Survey: Luxury, jewelry sales, not very jolly

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Survey: Luxury, jewelry sales, not very jolly

December 29, 2008

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Purchase, N.Y.--Luxury sales, especially sales of jewelry, slowed dramatically this holiday season, a survey from MasterCard Advisors shows.

According to SpendingPulse, a macro-economic report tracking retail and service sales nationally, sales of luxury goods for the 2008 holiday shopping season (defined as Nov. 1-Dec. 24) were down more than 34 percent when compared with the same period last year, making the category the biggest loser this holiday season when compared with sales of apparel and electronics and e-commerce sales.

A lack of jewelry sales dragged down the category as a whole. When jewelry sales are excluded, luxury sales are down about 21 percent compared with 2007, the survey showed.

Overall, the SpendingPulse survey showed that retail sales are down in the 5.5-8 percent range for November and December; however, excluding gasoline sales, retail sales are down 2-4 percent for the period.

And while some areas fared well--including those that sell food and general merchandise, as well as online retail sales, which declined only 2.3 percent when compared with 2007--Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for SpendingPulse, said overall, the holiday season wasn't bright.

Sales of apparel were down 19-21 percent compared with last year, while the electronics and appliance category saw sales decline more than 26 percent, the survey showed.

"A difficult economic environment, combined with unfavorable weather during the last week of shopping, made 2008 one of the most challenging holiday shopping seasons in decades," he said.

SpendingPulse is an information service provided by MasterCard Advisors, a subsidiary of MasterCard Worldwide. A macro-economic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail and service sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with estimates for all other payments forms, including cash and check. SpendingPulse does not represent MasterCard's financial performance.

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